Forgiving
by NoaShado
Summary: Oneshot Sasusaku. Sasuke spent his whole life chasing the past, and now, when everything is said and done, he is forced to let it all go. Slightly AU. Re-uploaded.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Normal

_Flashback _

Forgiving

By

NOASHADO

Sasuke sat with his back against a polished, gray stone. His hand lightly brushed the dug up dirt as he stared up at the weeping sky.

It was strange, this numbness he felt. Everything was so wrong, seemed so pointless.

"I don't understand." He said. "I did it. I avenged my family, my clan. But…it isn't supposed to feel like this."

He closed his onyx eyes as he felt pain fill his scarred heart. A memory flashed before his closed lids.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

_Sasuke turned to glare angrily at the young konoichi as she ran up to him. Why did she always fallow him? Why couldn't she have stayed asleep in bed where he had left her, where she was safe?_

_She stopped a few feet away, staring at him with the beautiful emeralds that grant him passage to her very soul._

"_Sasuke, please don't do this." Sakura pleaded, her voice desperate._

_Sasuke's glare dissipated, if only for a second, revealing to Sakura his unwillingness to leave. But then it was back, and stubborn determination shone through instead._

"_I have to, Sakura." He told her. "Itachi's close. I have to take this chance."_

_Sakura shook her head, her bubblegum hair brushing against her pale cheeks in a gentle caress. _

"_You don't! You don't have to do this, Sasuke! Please! It's not safe!" She begged. Her body convulsed visibly from the pain she must've been feeling _

_Sasuke thought of going to her, holding her and taking her pain away, but he couldn't. He _**had**_ to do this. For himself. For her. For the life growing within her…_

_Sasuke shook his head, turning around and resuming his tread out of the village. "Go home, Sakura." He mumbled. _

_He vaguely heard her jagged breath, _**heard**_ the tears as they rushed down her petite face. _

"_Please don't!" Sakura cried. Then she broke into a run. _

_She came up behind him and desperately wrapped her arms around his lean torso. Sasuke felt his shirt dampen as she buried her face into his back. _

"_Sasuke, please! Don't go…don't leave me again." she pleaded. She brushed her lips against his shoulder blade, causing a tremor to run down his spine. "Aishiteru, Sasuke-kun. Please, just stay."_

_Sasuke scrunched his eyes closed tight, feeling the burn of something unfamiliar. He brushed his fingers across her arms and felt her squeeze him tighter._

"_Sakura-"_

"_If you have to go, Sasuke, then let me come with you!"_

"_Sakura, don't-"_

"_Or take Naruto with you, or Kakashi. Take them both, I don't care! Just don't go alone, Sasuke, please…"_

_The twenty-year-old Uchiha opened his eyes slowly, leveling them with the stone ground as a broken smile spread across his lips._

"_I have to do this alone, Sakura, nothing can change that." He mumbled, squeezing her arm._

"_D-demo, Sas-"_

"_I'm sorry." And with that, he ripped himself from the pink haired konoichi's grasp._

_She stumbled forward, her support suddenly gone, until she felt his gentle hands take hold of her forearms, steadying her from behind. One of his hands moved to carefully lie on her slightly swollen stomach._

"_I love you." The words ghosted by her ear and then…nothing. She spun around but Sasuke was no longer there. His presence was gone, his chakra gone too. _

"_No…no! Sasuke!"She screamed. With angry tears in her eyes, she aimed a punch at the closest solid object; a back wall of a weapons shop. She collapsed against it, her sobs echoing in the lonely night. _

_Outside of the Kanoha gates, Sasuke closed his eyes and bid his cherry blossom a silent farewell._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

The youngest Uchiha son lifted his face to the skies, letting the clouds' tears wash away his own.

"Okaa-san, Otou-san…why?" he pleaded quietly. "Why does this hurt so much?"

His response was an angry rumble from the skies. He brought a pale hand to his face, covering his onyx eyes.

All those years ago, when he dreamed of killing his brother, he expected to feel relieved. He had expected a feeling of inner peace, one he hadn't felt since the day he had lost everything. He had expected so much. An end to his suffering. To his nightmares.

He hadn't expected to feel like this. He hadn't expected to feel like his heart was being ripped into millions of shreds, like his lungs were on fire. He hadn't expected the new nightmares, the fear, the regret.

"Damn it Itachi!" he shouted to nothing. He clenched his free hand into a white-knuckled fist.

When he opened his eyes, instead of seeing gray storms through shaky fingers, he saw the Kanoha forest bathed in silver moonlight…he saw his brother, gasping and battered a few yards away.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Sasuke stood breathing deeply. He was bleeding from many wounds, bruises formed on his creamy skin. He glared at his equally beaten brother heaving in front of him._

"_You've…improved, Sasuke." Itachi gasped out. _

"_No thanks to you!" Sasuke spat back. Crimson met with crimson._

_Itachi straitened his back and charged forward, flinging a group of kunai at his brother._

_The young Uchiha grit his teeth as he deflected the kunai with a few of his own and rammed into Itachi, the sound of metal scraping together in the air._

_They pushed each other away, reaching into their packs in synchronized motions, pulling out identical shuriken, and throwing them at the other. Each dodged the attack with effortless speed. _

_They jumped into the air only to be met with the other, each fist hitting the other in the jaw. The impact of their punches forced them back into the ground below, dirt rising into a dense cloud._

_Sasuke sat up slowly, wiping the blood from his chin. His brother rose unsteadily to his feet, spitting up blood. They glared at each other with venomous hate in their crimson gazes. Itachi gasped steadily as he managed a breathless laugh._

"_You really have changed, little brother, Father would be proud." The man sneered._

_The younger brother ground his teeth together. "Shut up!" he shouted._

_Sasuke quickly brought his hands together to form a round of hand signs. "Fire style, Dragon Fire jutsu!" Red flames blew from Sasuke's lips, quickly licking across the clearing over to the older Uchiha in record time. _

_Itachi speedily made similar hand signs and equally angry flames collided with Sasuke's. The fires cancelled each other out and exploded against each other, smoke filling the area. _

_Both brothers jumped from the cloud of gray and attacked each other again, throwing equal amounts of kicks and punches. _

_They suddenly flew backwards, both falling to their feet and skidding to a stop. _

_The last Uchihas stood glaring at their counterpart, their breathing uneven once again. _

_The sun's growing light quickly got Sasuke's attention. Panic rose as he realized he was almost out of time. Lady Hokage would be waking soon and she will be sending a group of Anbu to check on him, to make sure he hadn't disobeyed her orders to stay in the village. He needed to be back before Tsunade found out he was missing. She wouldn't be so forgiving a second time. _

_Sasuke's crimson eyes landed on Itachi with burning determination._

"_It's time to end this, Itachi!" With that, Sasuke made more hand signs. Blue electricity formed around his hands and the sound of a thousand screeching birds filled the air._

"_You're still too hasty, little brother." Itachi mumbled. He sighed and took off. They both charged at each other, Sasuke with the chidori, Itachi unarmed. _

_Just as Sasuke reached his brother, Itachi dropped to the ground. The chidori grazed his hair as it flew over his head. _

_Sasuke stared wide eyed at the spot his brother was until he felt a fist collide with his gut. He was propelled upward then slammed back into the ground as Itachi jumped up to deliver a kick to Sasuke's back._

"_I grow tired of this little spat, Sasuke, it's about time you died." Itachi spoke. He formed his own jutsu and was about to kill his brother but was stopped by a shuriken whizzing by and scraping his cheek._

"_Sasuke!" a sickly familiar voice broke through Sasuke's despair. 'NO!' his mind screamed with new fear. _

_Both he and his brother turned to see the cherry blossom konoichi. Sakura stood there, wind blowing through her short pink hair and an intense need to protect shining in her eyes._

_She glared at Itachi as she reached for her kunai. "You leave him alone, you bastard!" she screamed before charging._

_Sasuke stood up quickly, but not quick enough to stop his brother from running to meet his pink haired lover. The youngest Uchiha began to stumble forward, releasing a single desperate cry before another fierce battle ensued- "Sakura, NO!"_

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

That was the night he killed his brother. That was the night Sasuke completed his lifelong mission. Sasuke closed his eyes again. That night…that night was four years ago exactly and, though every other day didn't seem nearly as bad, Sasuke couldn't help himself from breaking every year today. This was the fourth anniversary to his brother's death, the fourth night he spent at the Uchiha graveyard to sit dejectedly at the newest grave. It was an old routine now. A tiring one.

"It's time I let go." He whispered, determination filling his voice.

He sighed and stood up, stretching his long legs and patting his bottom to get some of the mud off.

He turned to the sky, letting the rain wash over his face. It was soothing, in its own sad way. He kind of liked it. It somehow took away his pain, made his soul feel lighter. _Just like her._

Suddenly, the rain was gone. He looked up surprised, only to find a navy blue umbrella hovering over him.

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?" a sweet voice asked.

Sasuke felt his every worry fade as her sweet presence healed his heart. He turned to his wife of five years with a smile, clasping his hand over the one that held the umbrella and bringing her closer.

"I'm fine, Sakura. For the first time in four years…I don't feel like grieving anymore." He answered her.

Uchiha Haruno Sakura glanced up at her husband with a warm smile. Tenderly, she pulled his jacket tighter around him.

"We should get you home, Sasuke-kun. There's supposed to be a nasty storm coming, and I promised Fuyu you'd tuck him in tonight." She told him.

Gently, she reached up to brush his ebony bangs away from his eyes, but she was suddenly pulled into her husband's warm hold. He laid his lips against hers in a gentle, loving kiss, then broke away to smile down at her.

"Give me a minute, Saku-chan." He spoke softly, using the nickname she loved to hear in its rare occasions, "Let me do something first."

Sakura stared at him, thinking it over. Her bottom lip pouted cutely and she lightly traced that spot where his shoulder and neck joined. Finally, she pulled away and began walking out of the cemetery.

"Don't be too long." She ordered before disappearing.

Alone, Sasuke turned back. He faced the stone with an apprehensive look. The pain slowly dissipated and he smiled at the memory of the person buried in this grave.

"I'm letting you go." He whispered. He leaned down and brushed the wet stone softly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_The sun was high in the sky now. Sakura lay drained of chakra and energy in the dirt, a glowering Sasuke stood protectively in front of her. He was tired and injured, but he wouldn't give up. Sakura needed him, he _**couldn't**_ give up._

_Itachi stood unsteadily. Again, he was pushed a few yards away from his brother and his lover. He worked on evening his breath as he thought of a plan to weaken his opponent. Probably by killing the girl…_

_Sakura caught on to Itachi's plan and she whimpered helplessly. She was scared, hurt and oh so very tired. She didn't know if she could protect herself, if she could protect her baby._

"_He won't hurt you, Sakura. I'll kill him before that happens." Sasuke told her, bravely._

_Sakura nearly cried, but she hadn't the energy. "Sasuke, please, don't." she whimpered._

_Sasuke ignored her as he started the chidori, its power much greater than before, renewed by his fierce determination. Fully charged, he ran at Itachi._

_His brother laughed breathlessly. "You'd think you'd learn after the first attempt!" Itachi taunted. Then time seemed to slow. Three things happened all at once._

_Sakura screamed in terror as the brothers met in a final clash._

_Itachi stabbed Sasuke in the stomach with his kunai._

_And Sasuke plunged his chidori through his older brother's heart._

_Itachi choked against the blood flooding his mouth. His wide-eyed vision blurred and darkened, but he can still make out his brother's pale, determined face through the haze. It was a good enough sight, he thought, to be his last._

"_You've…grown…so much…Sasuke." He managed to choke out, blood leaking into his lungs. There was pride in his failing voice. An emotion that had been missing since the night he lost his home. He smiled serenely at his brother one last time. "Arigatou."_

_And Itachi was gone._

_Sasuke pulled back, letting his brother's body fall lifeless to the tarnished ground, stumbled, and dropped into the waiting arms of his cherry blossom. She tenderly brushed his hair from his face as she gave him a teary smile._

"_Saku-…" Sasuke choked out, unable to finish the name. He lifted a shaky hand to hers and clutched it tightly._

"_You did it Sasuke-kun. You finally killed Itachi." Sakura told him. There were tears in her eyes, threatening to overflow and a smile upturning her lips in her hopes to comfort him._

_Sasuke's face scrunched up. "It hurts." He mumbled._

_Sakura nodded her head. "I know Sasuke-kun, I'll fix it. Don't worry. You'll-"_

"_No, my heart…my heart hurts." And Uchiha Sasuke started crying. He held Sakura tightly as an unknown pain wafted through. It wasn't because of his wounds, it was something else. Something deeper. He wept as Sakura leaned over him._

"_Oh, Sasuke." She held him tightly as the Sun shined through the trees._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

Sasuke stood, once more. "I'm letting you go, nii-san. Rest well." He mumbled.

The head of the Uchiha clan turned from the grave and began to walk out of the Uchiha cemetery. He quickly sped after his young wife, went home to his four-year-old son, a smile gracing his features.

The gray clouds suddenly stopped weeping. They separated to let the sun finally shine through. Its gentle rays warmed Kanoha and its people. A lone beam landed on the polished stone, making the carved words glow. The soul hovering there finally felt at peace, knowing his brother no longer grieved for him. With a smile on his weathered face, he turned up to the sun and closed his eyes serenely. Like a flicker of light, he was gone, and the cemetery was empty once again.

**Uchiha Itachi**

**S-Class Criminal**

**Beloved Son and Brother**

_**AN**__: OK there you have it. And before any of you get mad at me for killing Itachi (not that he doesn't die anyway), I would like you all to know he is one of my favorite characters. If I had a choice, he'd have given up his self-made evilness and come back to live happily with his brother. Maybe find a girl along the way. Or drag Kisame with him, who knows. Point is I don't hate him. Blame the muse. It was the one that made me write this. As always, feel free to tell me what you think. Feedback is much appreciated._


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